In the age of efficiency and sustainability, smarter building designs are helping a wide range of industries overcome their biggest challenges – including hospitals and medical facilities. Medical facilities are tasked with addressing the needs of many different audiences – from patients to doctors to administrators – and the building needs to blend optimal functionality with comfort and energy efficiency. A tension facade system (aka tensile membrane facade) can help address each of those concerns and more.
Building Efficiency
By their nature, hospitals and medical facilities use a great deal of energy. As the cost of electricity and other utilities continues to rise, it’s important to implement realistic plans for maximizing energy efficiency. As the industry’s best architectural shading solution, tension facade systems help medical facilities stay ahead of the energy efficient curve.
Just like stepping under the shade of a tree on a hot day, a tension facade system is an energy-neutral way of decreasing the sun’s impact on the internal temperature of your hospital. In other words, by shading the exterior of your building, you may be able to reduce the internal temperature by up to 10-15O – even before turning on the air conditioning unit.
Patient Wellbeing
Countless studies have shown the power of natural light for improved patient wellbeing and office productivity. Who hasn’t sat under florescent lighting in a doctor’s office and felt uneasy? After working in an office all day, who hasn’t stepped outside and felt reenergized?
Despite the positive benefits of natural light, unobstructed windows in a medical facility often aren’t an option because of privacy, glare issues, and health concerns. A tension facade system provides the best of both worlds by allowing natural diffused light to pass through, while blocking harmful UV rays and obstructing the view into exam rooms from the outside.
Hospital Branding
In addition to the important work that happens inside a hospital or doctor’s office, administrators also need to maintain focus on the business’s financial sustainability, which requires strategic marketing and well-established branding. With advances in digital printing on PVC membranes, a tension facade system can provide an effective branding opportunity for the facility, transforming a generic building into an iconic structure in the community.
Property Functionality
While tension facade systems address energy and lighting concerns, other types of tensioned fabric structures can add incredible amounts of functionality to a medical campus. From covered drop-off areas to protected outdoor walkways or seating areas, tensioned fabric structures are being implemented across the country to address a wide range of landscape architecture trends.
Is a Tension Facade System Right for Your Hospital?
In the Tension Structures Division of Eide Industries, we specialize in design, engineering, manufacturing, and installation of structurally complex and creatively challenging commercial, government, and prototype design projects. Our expertise with tensile facade systems and tension structures supports architects, designers, general contractors, and building owners in their efforts to bring custom tensile membrane projects to life.
Explore the options for your next project by calling 800-422-6827.